SSCP CramCram Exam Solved

SSCP CramCram Exam Solved Caesar Cipher type - Answer- Substitution cipher shifting letters by 3 Cryptovariable - Answer- The key that controls the cryptographic algorithm WPA2 encryption method - Answer- AES in CBC + CTR mode (CCMP) WPA3 encryption method - Answer- SAE (Simultaneous Authentication of Equals) with AES-GCMP WEP weakness - Answer- Static keys and weak IV (24-bit) Asymmetric scalability solution - Answer- Hierarchies of trust (PKI certificate chains) Web of trust - Answer- Decentralized trust model (PGP) - users vouch for each other CA primary function - Answer- Validates that a public key belongs to a specific user RA (Registration Authority) function - Answer- Verifies identity before CA issues certificate CRL purpose - Answer- List of revoked certificates OCSP purpose - Answer- Real-time certificate validity checking HSM purpose - Answer- Manages and protects digital certificates and keys TPM purpose - Answer- Hardware chip for secure key storage on endpoints DES security property - Answer- Confidentiality only (not integrity) DES key size - Answer- 56-bit effective (64-bit with parity) 3DES key sizes - Answer- 112-bit (2-key) or 168-bit (3-key) AES key sizes - Answer- 128, 192, or 256 bits AES block size - Answer- 128 bits Blowfish key range - Answer- 32 to 448 bits Twofish block size - Answer- 128 bits Integrity mechanisms (3) - Answer- MAC, MD5, SHA hashing, parity MD5 hash output - Answer- 128 bits SHA-1 hash output - Answer- 160 bits SHA-256 hash output - Answer- 256 bits HMAC definition - Answer- Hash-based Message Authentication Code - hash + secret key Digital signature provides - Answer- Authentication, integrity, non-repudiation Symmetric vs asymmetric speed - Answer- Symmetric is faster, asymmetric is slower Symmetric key problem - Answer- Key distribution - both parties need same key Asymmetric key pair usage - Answer- Public encrypts, private decrypts (or vice versa for signing) Diffie-Hellman purpose - Answer- Secure key exchange over insecure channel Diffie-Hellman vulnerability - Answer- Man-in-the-middle attack RSA key sizes - Answer- 2048-bit minimum, 4096-bit recommended RSA based on - Answer- Factoring large prime numbers ECC advantage - Answer- Smaller keys, same security as RSA Block cipher - Answer- Encrypts fixed-size blocks (e.g., 64 or 128 bits) Stream cipher - Answer- Encrypts one bit or byte at a time Stream cipher example - Answer- RC4 Substitution cipher - Answer- Replaces characters with other characters Transposition cipher - Answer- Rearranges character positions ECB mode weakness - Answer- Identical plaintext blocks produce identical ciphertext CBC mode - Answer- Each block XORed with previous ciphertext block CTR mode advantage - Answer- Parallelizable encryption/decryption IV (Initialization Vector) purpose - Answer- Ensures identical plaintexts produce different ciphertexts Kerckhoffs principle - Answer- Security depends on key secrecy, not algorithm secrecy Key stretching purpose - Answer- Makes weak passwords harder to crack (PBKDF2, bcrypt) Salt purpose - Answer- Random data added to password before hashing Rainbow table defense - Answer- Salting passwords Proxy firewall advantage - Answer- Deep inspection - terminates and rebuilds connections NIDS limitation - Answer- Passive monitoring only, cannot terminate connections NIPS vs NIDS - Answer- NIPS can block traffic, NIDS only alerts Signature-based detection - Answer- Matches known attack patterns Anomaly-based detection - Answer- Detects deviations from baseline behavior Heuristic detection - Answer- Uses rules and algorithms to identify suspicious behavior OSI layers top to bottom - Answer- Application, Presentation, Session, Transport, Network, Data Link, Physical OSI mnemonic (top down) - Answer- All People Seem To Need Data Processing Layer 7 protocols - Answer- HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, SMTP, DNS Layer 4 protocols - Answer- TCP, UDP Layer 3 protocols - Answer- IP, ICMP, IPSec Layer 2 protocols - Answer- Ethernet, ARP, PPP Circuit-switched network - Answer- Establishes on-demand circuit between endpoints Packet-switched network - Answer- Divides data into packets over shared network RFC 1918 Class A range - Answer- 10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255 RFC 1918 Class B range - Answer- 172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255 RFC 1918 Class C range - Answer- 192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255 NAT purpose - Answer- Translates private IPs to public IPs PAT (Port Address Translation) - Answer- Multiple internal IPs share one public IP using ports IPSec AH provides - Answer- Authentication and integrity (no encryption) IPSec ESP provides - Answer- Authentication, integrity, and encryption IPSec transport mode - Answer- Encrypts payload only, original header visible IPSec tunnel mode - Answer- Encrypts entire original packet TLS handshake purpose - Answer- Negotiate cipher suite and exchange keys Bell-LaPadula focus - Answer- Confidentiality